Born in 1946 in Nicosia, Cyprus, where she lives and works. She studied in England at the Sir John Cass School of Art (1964-1965) and obtained a BA Honours in Art and Design from the Liverpool College of Art, UK (1966-1969). Since 1971 she has had 36 solo exhibitions in Cyprus, UK, USA, Greece, Spain and has participated in over 50 group exhibitions, art festivals, art workshops, art competitions and
congresses in many countries. Her paintings are part of major public and private collections all over the world and she has received many international awards.
Her work has been considered as a vehicle that transfers us to other dimensions from where we can draw perfection; and that it provides a conceptual bridge to contemporary art forms.
Rhea Bailey: ‘Innerscape’
Rhea Bailey always surprises us with her refined and powerful abstract art research and contribution to Cypriot, European and International art. Moving from monumental to miniature, from rectangle to circle, from regular to irregular and from canvas to silk and again to paper she explores all potential means of expression to free our spirit and broaden our vision to see the world from a new perspective.
'Innerscape' exhibition at Opus 39 Gallery makes no exception; it is a perfect orchestration of color and form; it makes the inward outward; it is a direct transformation of pure emotion and energy to the painting surface, bringing balance and harmony to life. Rhea demonstrates her ability in masterful handling of surface, materials and working on different sizes, large and small, with the same ease, without losing control of her creative elements.
The exhibited works evoke powerful emotional responses and provide a conceptual bridge to post–painterly abstraction. The artist's interventions exceed the painting process and contribute to the structure of the artwork, moving from regular to irregular, through altering the painting surface.
Wassily Kandinsky said, “Of all the arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know how to draw well, that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and for colours, and that you be a true poet”. This last is essential'. Rhea shares the same thoughts and values in her works and for that she is involved in strong deep emotions, a painterly quality and formal elements of abstract painting.
The exhibition consists of some 65 works on paper painted in twelve unities, recalling the artist's monumental experience (Triptycha and Eniaptycha). They reflect new aspects of the artist experience and contribution to contemporary art. In this exhibition, the painterly aesthetic and spiritual concerns meet in harmony to narrow the gap between life and art.
Edward Munch believes that “… Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye – it also includes the inner pictures of the soul”. In her show, Rhea Bailey dips her brush in her own soul and paints her own nature. Her art touches the heart and the soul.
Finally ‘Innnerscape’ is a celebration of artistic freedom, power and primacy of individual imagination.
Dr. Arafat Al-Naim
PHD, MFA, BFA in Graphic Arts and Printmaking,
MST in Art Teaching
“innerscape 4”
“innerscape 5”
“innerscape 3”
“innerscape 1”
“innerscape 2”
